CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
BIG MAC
The performer, playwright,
and star Taylor Mac is too
young to have appeared in
James McCourt's essential
2003 book, "Qyeer Street:
The Rise and Fall of an
American Culture: 1947-
1985," but, should there be
a subsequent volume, Mac
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would certainly be front and
center. Ever since he arrived
in N ew York from his native
Stockton, California, Mac
has been making a spectacle
of himself as one of those
uncategorizable talents the
city always seems to make
room for, largely because,
when it comes to theatre,
N ew York thrives on the
marginal. Last season,
Mac was the talk of the
town with his five-hour
extravaganza, "The Lily's
Revenge," which he not
only wrote but also helped
oversee, since it involved
some thirty performers, six
directors, and any number
of dreams. On Jan. 28-30,
Mac will be at the Yale
Repertory Theatre, with
"The Be(a)st of Taylor
Mac," an intellectually
arduous and beautifully
realized piece about the
dangers of homogeneity,
and what happens to the
soul when it forgoes the
richness of the imagination.
-HiltonAls
DANCE
NEW YORK CITY BALLET
"The Sleeping Beauty" is perhaps the crowning
jewel of the Russian Imperial ballet tradition; its
score, Tchaikovsky's second for the ballet, is con-
sidered by many to be his greatest. The famous
"Rose Adagio," in which the heroine, Aurora, plucks
a rose out of the hand of four suitors, each time
pausing in a perfect, unsupported arabesque, is still
one of the great tests for a ballerina. This week,
the company will bring back Peter Martins's stream-
lined staging from 1991, with projections to ease
the scenic changes and a slightly different ending-
instead of a wedding, we get a wedding and a cor-
onation, a symbolic shift. The production employs
more than a hundred dancers, including swarms
of charming little ones from the School of Ameri-
can Ballet. Casts appear on the company's Web site
a week in advance. Jan. 27 and Feb. 2 at 7:30, Jan.
28-29 at 8, Jan. 30 at 2 and 8, and Jan. 31 at 2
and 7. (David H. Koch, Lincoln Center. 212-721-
650g. Through Feb. 28.)
GYOR NATIONAL BALLET
At the Joyce, the company will perform a double
bill of Stravinsky ballets, a "Rite of Spring" by the
young Hungarian choreographer Atilla Kun and a
1995 version of "Petrouchka," set in a Stalinist hell
of "happy totalitarianism," by the Russian choreog-
rapher Dmitriy Simkin. (175 Eighth Ave., at 19th
St. 212-242-0800. Jan. 26-27 at 7:30, Jan. 28-29 at
8, Jan. 30 at 2 and 8, and Jan. 31 at 2 and 7:30.)
LULA WASHINGTON DANCE THEATRE
"Peak Performances@Montclair" presents the so-
cially conscious, L.A.-based veteran Lula Washing-
ton's company, which will perform a new work by
Washington, "Www.Connections.2010,"inspired by
the current obsession with social networking. Also
on the program are "Beautiful Venus and Serena"
(about the Williams sisters), by Tamica Washington-
Miller, and "Angelitos Negros," an excerpt from
Donald McKayles's powerful 1972 work "Songs of
the Disinherited." (Alexander Kasser, 1 Normal Ave.,
Montclait; N.J. 973-655-5112. Jan. 28-29 at 7:30,
Jan. 30 at 8, and Jan. 31 at 3.)
JON KINZEL
The best advertisement for Kinzel's "Responsible
Ballet and What We Need Is a Bench to Put Books
On" is the multigenerational cast he's signed on,
which includes such unconventionally compelling
performers as Hilary Clark, Christopher Williams,
Jodi Melnick, and Vicky Shick. Some shine in solos,
but Kinzel's focus is the duet, ranging from warily
independent orbits to unison mirror images to more
intimate exchanges. Much of the work is unusually
arm-based, as if to measure out the space surround-
ing each dancer. (The Kitchen, 512 W 19th St. 212-
255-5793, ext. 11. Jan. 28-30 at 8.)
JULIE BOUR
The French choreographer, best known for her long
association with Angelin Preljocaj, presents her first
work in New York. "Why Now?" reveals a vivid
theatrical sense, a sleek stylishness that doesn't sac-
rifice kinetic interest. An emotional narrative track-
ing a somnolent woman's confrontation with the
world is conveyed through a movement vocabulary
that's loose and fluid but rhythmically exact. (Dance
New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, at Chambers St.
212-625-8369. Jan. 28-30 at 8.)
IIDANCE ON CAMERA II
This year's festival, co-presented by the Film Soci-
ety of Lincoln Center and Dance Films Association,
is anchored by a daylong celebration of Alwin Niko-
lais, the wide-eyed wizard of low-tech costume-and-
light illusions; a Christian Blackwood documentary
from 1986 gets bolstered by a showing of rarer TV
footage. Two new documentaries of icons from the
sixties-Anna Halprin and Meredith Monk-join
two new surveys of the contemporary scene, one
from Germany ("Urban Ballet") and one from New
York. This latter is the third installment in Michael
Blackwood's acclaimed "New York Dance" series,
now curated by the critic Gia Kourlas, who partic-
i pa tes in a post-screening talk with the director.
Anne Bass débuts "Dancing Across Borders," which
follows a Cambodian temple dancer's attempts to
learn classical ballet in America. Darkened kiosks
in the lobby house brief dance films intended for
an audience of one. Visit www.filmlinc.com for a
complete schedule. (Walter Reade Theatre, Lincoln
Center. 212-875-5600. Jan. 29-Feb. 2.)
DOUG VARONE I IISTRIPPED II
For the fourth installment of this series of intimate
studio performances at the 92nd Street Y, Varone
has an impressive guest: the highly regarded so-
prano Elizabeth Futral. She will perform arias from
Bellini's "Norma" for an excerpt of "Bel Canto,"
Varone's affectionate riff on opera's intricate vocal
fireworks. Other works on the program include
"Rise," set to John Adams's "Fearful Symmetries,"
and the tortured duet "Home." (Lexington Ave. at
92nd St. 212-279-3344. Jan. 29 at 8.)
LEVYDANCE
The precocious San Francisco choreographer Ben-
jamin Levy brings his troupe back to Joyce SoHo
with his first evening-length work. In "Everyone In-
timate Alone Visibly," Levy's entry in the rapidly
expanding canon of technologically interactive dances,
both the mechanism and the message are largely
familiar. The dancers' movements trigger light and
shadow, sound and animation, and the piece in-
cludes the now-standard poignant duet between a
real dancer and a virtual one. Levy makes the method
more intimate with wraparound seating and mid-
performance audience reconfiguration, but it's his
feel for rippling energy, even while partially ob-
scured, that remains distinctive. (155 Mercer St.
212-352-3101. Jan. 29-30 at 8 and Jan. 31 at 3.)
IISHIM SHAM II
The Kitchen's open tap jam shifts character with
each guest host. This time around, the proceedings
are shaped by Joseph Webb, who has kept a low
profile since participating in "Bring in 'da Noise,
Bring in ' da Funk," in the mid-nineties. His current
mode takes his capable hoofing and adds spoken-
word homilies of self-affirmation, sometimes alter-
nating the tap and talk, sometimes blending the
two. His band, which traffics in hip-hop and soul
grooves as well as jazz, should provide unusual in-
spiration to the usual young guns who show up
packing tap shoes. (The Kitchen, 512 W 19th St.
212-255-5793, ext. 11. Feb. 1 at 8.)
CLASSICAL MUSIC
OPERA
METROPOLITAN OPERA
Richard Eyre's new production of "Carmen," set
amid the revolving walls of a dilapidated bullring in
Franco-era Spain, is a daring, sexy replacement for
Zeffirelli's disappointing effort from 1996. Olga
Borodina sings the title role, with the American tenor
Brandon Jovanovich making his Met début as Don
José. Also with Barbara Frittoli and Mariusz Kwiecien;
Alain Altinoglu, in his Met début, conducts. (Maija
Kovalevska replaces Frittoli in the second and third
performances.) (Jan. 27 and Feb. 1 at 8 and Jan. 30
at 8:30.) . The final performance of "Turandot"
features Lise Lindstrom (a compelling young Amer-
ican singer, in the title role), Grazia Doronzio, and
Frank Porretta; Julien Salemkour conducts. (Jan. 28
at 8.) . By heading the cast of "Simon Boccanegra,"
Plácido Domingo returns to his origins-as a bari-
tone-to begin the last act of his singing career. While
he lacks a true baritone timbre, he has the pitches
in his grasp, and he easily commands the stage. This
revival of Giancarlo del Monaco's production ofVer-
di's richly satisfying opera also features excellent sing-
ing from Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani,
and James Morris; the suave and stately performance
given by James Levine and his orchestra is a tribute
to the composer's refined, concentrated orchestra-
tion. (J. David Jackson replaces Levine in the first
performance.) (Jan. 29 and Feb. 2 at 8.) . Verdi's
"Stiffelio," cut to ribbons by the censors before its
première, in Trieste in 1850, was given its first com-
plete performance at the Met in 1993. Back then,
Plácido Domingo took the title role, that of an
Austrian Protestant preacher who struggles with
his wife's infidelity; now the impressive José Cura
sings the lead, with Domingo conducting. Also
with SondraRadvanovsky, Andrzej Dobber, and Phil-
THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY I, 2010 13